Gilbert Gutknecht: “I will end this debate the way I began. I do respect the work that is done on the Subcommittee on the District of…”

“I will end this debate the way I began. I do respect the work that is done on the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia of Committee on Appropriations for the District of Columbia. This is a very serious problem. But I would have to agree with my colleague, the gentleman from Indiana, who spoke earlier. The problem is not necessarily that there is not enough tax money flowing through the District of Columbia. On a per capita basis, if we compare the schools, for example, how much we spend back in Minnesota on our public schools, something like $5,600. Here in the District of Columbia, by some estimates, it is almost $10,000. The problem is not that we are not spending enough money, but the District and the Federal Government, as oversight, have not been ensuring that those moneys are spent properly. Mr. Chairman, what this amendment is really about is keeping our promises of last year. As the gentleman from Indiana said, if we cannot cut 1.9 percent this year, how are we going to cut 4 percent next year? Balancing the budget is not what you do next year, it is not what you do 2 years from now, it is what you do this year. I think we have to keep faith with what we told the voters 2 years ago. I think we have to keep faith with our children. This is about generational equity, it is not about whether potholes are going to be filled in Washington, DC.”